Machine Learning Differentiation of Autism Spectrum Sub-Classifications.

PURPOSE: Disorders on the autism spectrum have characteristics that can manifest as difficulties with communication, executive functioning, daily living, and more. These challenges can be mitigated with early identification. However, diagnostic criteria has changed from DSM-IV to DSM-5, which can make diagnosing a disorder on the autism spectrum complex. We evaluated machine learning to classify individuals as having one of three disorders of the autism spectrum under DSM-IV, or as non-spectrum. METHODS: We employed machine learning to analyze retrospective data from 38,560 individuals. Inputs encompassed clinical, demographic, and assessment data. RESULTS: The algorithm achieved AUROCs ranging from 0.863 to 0.980. The model correctly classified 80.5% individuals; 12.6% of individuals from this dataset were misclassified with another disorder on the autism spectrum. CONCLUSION: Machine learning can classify individuals as having a disorder on the autism spectrum or as non-spectrum using minimal data inputs.

Intratumoral delivery of tavokinogene telseplasmid yields systemic immune responses in metastatic melanoma patients.

BACKGROUND: Interleukin 12 (IL-12) is a pivotal regulator of innate and adaptive immunity. We conducted a prospective open-label, phase II clinical trial of electroporated plasmid IL-12 in advanced melanoma patients (NCT01502293). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with stage III/IV melanoma were treated intratumorally with plasmid encoding IL-12 (tavokinogene telseplasmid; tavo), 0.5 mg/ml followed by electroporation (six pulses, 1500 V/cm) on days 1, 5, and 8 every 90 days in the main study and additional patients were treated in two alternative schedule exploration cohorts. Correlative analyses for programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), flow cytometry to assess changes in immune cell subsets, and analysis of immune-related gene expression were carried out on pre- and post-treatment samples from study patients, as well as from additional patients treated during exploration of additional dosing schedules beyond the pre-specified protocol dosing schedule. Response was measured by study-specific criteria to maximize detection of latent and potentially transient immune responses in patients with multiple skin lesions and toxicities were graded by the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 4.0 (CTCAE v4.0). RESULTS: The objective overall response rate was 35.7% in the main study (29.8% in all cohorts), with a complete response rate of 17.9% (10.6% in all cohorts). The median progression-free survival in the main study was 3.7 months while the median overall survival was not reached at a median follow up of 29.7 months. A total of 46% of patients in all cohorts with uninjected lesions experienced regression of at least one of these lesions and 25% had a net regression of all untreated lesions. Transcriptomic and immunohistochemistry analysis showed that immune activation and co-stimulatory transcripts were up-regulated but there was also increased adaptive immune resistance. CONCLUSIONS: Intratumoral Tavo was well tolerated and led to systemic immune responses in advanced melanoma patients. While tumor regression and increased immune infiltration were observed in treated as well as untreated/distal lesions, adaptive immune resistance limited the response.

Transcranial direct current stimulation's effect on novice versus experienced learning.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS) is a non-invasive form of brain stimulation applied via a weak electrical current passed between electrodes on the scalp. In recent studies, TDCS has been shown to improve learning when applied to the prefrontal cortex (e.g., Kincses et al. in Neuropsychologia 42:113-117, 2003; Clark et al. Neuroimage in 2010). The present study examined the effects of TDCS delivered at the beginning of training (novice) or after an hour of training (experienced) on participants' ability to detect cues indicative of covert threats. Participants completed two 1-h training sessions. During the first 30 min of each training session, either 0.1 mA or 2.0 mA of anodal TDCS was delivered to the participant. The anode was positioned near F8, and the cathode was placed on the upper left arm. Testing trials immediately followed training. Accuracy in classification of images containing and not-containing threat stimuli during the testing sessions indicated: (1) that mastery of threat detection significantly increased with training, (2) that anodal TDCS at 2 mA significantly enhanced learning, and (3) TDCS was significantly more effective in enhancing test performance when applied in novice learners than in experienced learners. The enhanced performance following training with TDCS persisted into the second session when TDCS was delivered early in training.

Omega-3 fatty acid effect on alveolar bone loss in rats.

Gingival inflammation and alveolar bone resorption are hallmarks of adult periodontitis, elicited in response to oral micro-organisms such as Porphyromonas gingivalis. We hypothesized that omega (omega)-3 fatty acids (FA) dietary supplementation would modulate inflammatory reactions leading to periodontal disease in infected rats. Rats were fed fish oil (omega-3 FA) or corn oil (n-6 FA) diets for 22 weeks and were infected with P. gingivalis. Rats on the omega-3 FA diet exhibited elevated serum levels of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), documenting diet-induced changes. PCR analyses demonstrated that rats were orally colonized by P. gingivalis; increased IgG antibody levels substantiated this infection. P. gingivalis-infected rats treated with omega-3 FA had significantly less alveolar bone resorption. These results demonstrated the effectiveness of an omega-3 FA-supplemented diet in modulating alveolar bone resorption following P. gingivalis infection, and supported that omega-3 FA may be a useful adjunct in the treatment of periodontal disease.

Deranged smooth muscle alpha-actin as a biomarker of intestinal pseudo-obstruction: a controlled multinational case series.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Chronic idiopathic intestinal pseudo-obstruction (CIIP) is a severe motility disorder associated with significant morbidity. Several histopathological (neuropathic and myopathic) phenotypes have been described but only a single adult with jejunal smooth (circular) muscle alpha-actin deficiency. We present a prospective multinational case series investigating smooth muscle alpha-actin deficiency as a biomarker of this disease. METHODS: A total of 115 fully clinically and physiologically (including prolonged (24 hour) ambulatory jejunal manometry) characterised CIIP patients from three European centres were studied. Immunohistochemical localisation of actins and other cytoskeletal proteins were performed on laparoscopic full thickness jejunal biopsies and compared with adult controls. Distribution of alpha-actin was also characterised in other gut regions and in the developing human alimentary tract. RESULTS: Twenty eight of 115 (24%) CIIP patient biopsies had absent (n = 22) or partial (n = 6) jejunal smooth muscle alpha-actin immunostaining in the circular muscle layer. In contrast, smooth muscle alpha-actin staining was preserved in the longitudinal muscle and in adult jejunal controls (n = 20). Comparative study of other adult alimentary tract regions and fetal small intestine, suggested significant spatial and temporal variations in smooth muscle alpha-actin expression. CONCLUSIONS: The ability to modulate alpha-smooth muscle actin expression, evident in development, is maintained in adult life and may be influenced by disease, rendering it a valuable biomarker even in the absence of other structural abnormalities.

Calcium dependence of vasoactive intestinal peptide-stimulated cyclic AMP accumulation in rat hippocampal slices.

Previous work has shown that incubation of hippocampal slices in medium without added calcium markedly attenuates the capacity of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) to elevate cyclic AMP levels. The present studies examined the mechanism that confers calcium dependence on VIP stimulation of cyclic AMP accumulation in hippocampal slices. Calcium dependence was apparent immediately on slice preparation and was reversible only if calcium ions were added back very early during slice incubation (within 5 min). The cyclic AMP response to VIP was not abolished by preincubating slices in 100 microM adenosine, suggesting that calcium-dependent, VIP-induced release of adenosine does not mediate VIP elevation of cyclic AMP. VIP-stimulated cyclic AMP accumulation was not decreased by agents that block calcium influx (verapamil, nifedipine, magnesium ions), or by calmodulin antagonists (trifluoperazine, calmidozolium). In fact both verapamil (100 microM) and magnesium (14 mM) augmented VIP stimulation of cyclic AMP generation. Incubation of slices with the phosphodiesterase inhibitor 1-methyl-3-isobutylxanthine (MIX) did not affect VIP activation of cyclic AMP accumulation if slices were incubated without added calcium, but MIX did enhance VIP elevation of cyclic AMP content in slices incubated with calcium. Thus calcium dependence of the cyclic AMP response to VIP in hippocampal slices is unlikely to result from VIP-dependent calcium influx, from interactions with calmodulin, or from calcium-inhibited phosphodiesterase(s).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Glial fibrillary acidic protein: norepinephrine stimulated phosphorylation in intact C-6 glioma cells.

Coelectrophoresis in two-dimensional gels of rat glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFA) and 32P-labeled whole cell extracts of rat C-6 glioma cells showed that the GFA migrated in close proximity to a previously noted phosphoprotein, 50K-6.1, of these cells. GFA electrophoresed as a 50K polypeptide with at least four charge variants, the most acidic of which coelectrophoresed with 50K-6.1. Exposure of the C-6 cultures to dibutyryl cyclic AMP (dbcAMP) for 48 h increased the relative abundance of the endogenous polypeptide associated with 50K-6.1 by threefold, consistent with the hypothesis that 50K-6.1 was GFA. Norepinephrine stimulated 50K-6.1 phosphorylation 3.2-fold in dbcAMP-induced cultures. Peptide mapping with V8 protease and subtilisin was used to test the hypothesis that GFA and 50K-6.1 were identical polypeptides. With V8 protease, the peptides generated from the [35S]methionine labeled putative GFA spot of the C-6 cells were indistinguishable from the stained bands derived from authentic GFA in mixed samples of the two proteins. Likewise, the 35S-labeled acidic satellite to the putative GFA spot also yielded a peptide map that matched that of the authentic GFA. 32P-labeled peptides derived from the 50K-6.1 protein were a subset of those from authentic GFA. With three subtilisin concentrations, 32P-labeled 50K-6.1 was degraded to peptides which were again a subset of the stained GFA peptides. A cytoskeletal fraction from 32P-labeled C-6 cells contained a 50K phosphoprotein.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Activators of cyclic adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate accumulation in rat hippocampal slices: action of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP).

The present experiments tested the ability of putative neurotransmitters and neuromodulators to regulate cyclic adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate (cAMP) levels in rat hippocampal slices. Slices from ovariectomized adult female rats were equilibrated for 1 hr and incubated for 20 min with various test compounds, and cAMP was extracted and quantified using a competitive protein-binding assay. Norepinephrine, adenosine, histamine, and prostaglandins E1 and E2 alpha, induced moderate (1.5- to 5-fold) increases in cellular cAMP, whereas dopamine, serotonin, prostaglandin F2 alpha, and glutamate were relatively ineffective. Most striking was the observation that vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) produced marked elevation (approximately 80-fold at 6 microM) of hippocampal slice cAMP content. In contrast, other peptides produced only 2-fold increased (glucagon, somatostatin) or no change in cellular cAMP levels (enkephalins, LHRH, ACTH analogue, arginine vasopressin). Significant elevations in cAMP were seen with VIP concentrations as low as 20 nM; the cAMP response was half-maximal at 1 microM VIP and maximized between 10 and 20 microM. At maximally effective concentrations, VIP was 86% as effective in increasing cAMP as maximal concentrations of forskolin, a compound which activates adenylate cyclase in most cell types. The cAMP response to 10 microM VIP was pronounced after a 1-min incubation (16-fold elevations) and was maximal at 30 min (140-fold elevation). When slices from other brain areas were compared, it was found that regions known to contain high levels of VIP (cerebral cortex) also responded to VIP treatment with 30- to 50-fold elevations in cAMP.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Induction of glutamine synthetase by dibutyryl cyclic AMP in C-6 glioma cells.

Glutamine synthetase was found to be increased in C-6 glioma cells as a result of increasing culture passage and N-6,2'-O-dibutyryl cyclic AMP (dbcAMP) treatment. At low passage dbcAMP produced a 2.5-fold increase in glutamine synthetase activity per unit of cellular protein. At high passage control glutamine synthetase was approximately double that seen at low passage, but dbcAMP produced an additional 65% increase. Lactate dehydrogenase activity was also increased by dbcAMP treatment at both low and high passage, but culture passage produced no change in the lactate dehydrogenase. With increasing culture passage, the ratio of cellular protein to DNA doubled. Therefore, expression of data per unit of protein tended to minimize the apparent changes in activity. The maximum increase in glutamine synthetase activity produced by both dbcAMP and increasing culture passage and expressed on a DNA basis was 5.6-fold. The increase in glutamine synthetase activity was generally linear during the first 20 h of drug treatment, after which enzyme activity remained nearly constant up to 72 h. Ninety percent or more of the dbcAMP remained in the medium at the end of 48-h exposure of cells to dbcAMP. 8-br-Cyclic AMP also increased glutamine synthetase activity of C-6-cels, but n-butyrate did not. Isoproterenol, which increases cyclic AMP in C-6-cells, increased glutamine synthetase activity. The effect of isoproterenol on glutamine synthetase was inhibited by the beta-adrenergic blocking agent sotalol. Cycloheximide (10 micrograms/ml) inhibited the dbcAMP effect on glutamine synthetase activity and also decreased the control enzyme activity by 60%.

Tubulin adenosine diphosphate ribosylation is catalyzed by cholera toxin.

Cholera toxin catalyzed the transfer of radioactive label from [adenine-2,8-3H2]NAD+ or ((32P]NAD+ to rat C6 glioma cell membrane and cytosolic proteins. Labeled proteins were resolved by polyacrylamide-NaDodSO4 gel or two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and stained with Coomassie blue, and the gels were subjected to fluorography or autoradiography. Autoradiograms of gels revealed labeled Mr 42000 and 46000-48000 membrane proteins that are putative subunits of the regulatory component (G/F) of the C6 cell hormone-sensitive adenylate cyclase. Cholera toxin also catalyzed the labeling of several cytosolic proteins including a Mr 54000 protein that was observed in autoradiograms of two-dimensional gels to migrate as an acidic satellite relative to Coomassie-stained C6 cell tubulin. Tubulin modified by ADP-ribosylation would undergo an acid shift relative to the stained unmodified tubulin in two-dimensional gels. The data led us to postulate that tubulin undergoes cholera toxin catalyzed ADP-ribosylation. Bovine brain tubulin prepared by three cycles of warm/cold polymerization/depolymerization was incubated with [32P]NAD+, GTP, and cholera toxin and then subjected to two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Autoradiograms of the gels revealed the presence of [32P]ADP-ribosylated proteins that migrated as acidic satellites relative to the Coomassie-stained brain alpha and beta tubulin. Peptide maps of bovine brain tubulin and the associated [32P]ADP-ribosylated proteins showed a correspondence between the autoradiographic images and the stained peptide fragments. The data demonstrate that cholera toxin catalyzes the ADP-ribosylation of tubulin.

Vimentin: a phosphoprotein under hormonal regulation.

Past studies of norepinephrine-stimulated protein phosphorylation in intact C-6 glioma cells had identified a 58,000 molecular weight, 5.7 isoelectric point protein (58K-5.7) as a cyclic AMP-dependent phosphoprotein and had shown that 58K-5.7 was one of the most abundant proteins of the nuclear fraction. Initial experiments of present studies showed that the 58K-5.7 protein remained with the nuclear ghost, or matrix structure, after removal of chromatin. Based on the size, acidity, abundance, nonsolubilization by nonionic detergent and salt, and solubilization by urea, the hypothesis was advanced that the 58K-5.7 protein was the vimentin-type intermediate filament protein. The hypothesis was tested by two types of immunochemical experiments. Antisera against hamster vimentin reacted selectively with only the 58K-5.7 protein in polyacrylamide gels of urea-solubilized cellular residues (i.e., nonionic detergent and 0.6 M salt-insoluble material) as determined by immunoautoradiography. Antisera against the pure 58K-5.7 protein of C-6 cells bound selectively to a fibrous array of cellular material typical of vimentin filaments as determined by indirect immunofluorescence. It is concluded that the 58K-5.7 protein is vimentin.

Airborne concentration of I-131 in a nuclear medicine laboratory.

This study measures the airborne radioactivity during the handling of millicurie quantities of I-131 in the liquid and capsule form. The data indicate there is significant airborne activity when bottles containing 100--145 mCi of liquid I-131 are opened, and that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission level for airborne activity of I-131 in restricted areas (9 X 10(-9) muCi/ml) is exceeded. However, the airborne activity of I-131 is below the Nuclear Regulatory Commission level for restricted areas when 100-mCi quantities of I-131 in the capsule form are used, or during handling of liquid I-131 in the 20- to 30-mCi range. Thyroid counting is a better method than film badge for monitoring the personnel.